Squirrels Gone Wild!!!

I did some practice on my ability to draw animals in hopes of appealing to the children's illustration market. Being that it is winter in Michigan, the squirrels are coming up to the door looking for handouts, so I had plenty of reference and inspiration this time.

Santa Parade Float

I painted the background and text for Midland Christian School's float for the annual Santa Parade. Check it out.

Who was that Concealed Griddle Treat Anyway?

Yeah, they can show you some of my latest escapades.

Such as my gallery of work on display at "The Pancake Bandits",

My Thanks to them for posting my "Totally Rad Vintage/Detailed Illustrations".

Also, one of my favorite comic strips "My Cage" by Ed Power and Melissa DeJesus, ran its last strip yesterday, after three years in newspaper syndication. The creators used their creative outlet as an opportunity to thank their fans. Many, including myself, were mentioned by name.

You're Welcome Ed and Mel. At least you know that Erik is spelled with a "K".

Pets in Bed

Two new illustrations I did for sleepcare.com about pets in bed.

The Horror of Dracula

In preparation for Halloween, I had the opportunity to catch up on the early Hammer Horror movies. I grew up on the Universal Studios Horror movies, and have a close place in my heart (as my movie review blog will attest) that will always be my first choice for a late night scary movie, but I did admire how Hammer presented the famed monsters rather differently, and found myself rather enamored with Christopher Lee's expressive face in his role as Count Dracula.

Curiously, Dracula looks kinda like Ras Al Ghul from the Batman comics, I wonder if Neal Adams was inspired by such films.

Piggy and The Waterfall

I learned of a pen and ink drawing contest for the local garden park just shy of week before the deadline I knew I had to make a quick turnaround. So I worked hours of the day and night to guarantee these would be done in time. It really felt like I was back in school again (a feeling both good and bad) when it came to working such a close deadline. Here are the results.

Waterfall. Self Explainitory. It was just something I thought would make for a decent composition.

Piggy. A bronze sculpture of a pig in a clearing in a cornfield, which in this early August autumn was starting to decay. I couldn't help but look at his expression, as if he were looking up and above his crumbling surroundings and to something distant that we might never know.

Brush Practice Portraits

I recently purchased some new Winsor Newton sable brushes and they have been working wonders for me. I tried practicing by starting with something I was familiar with; faces. I tried my had at the male leads from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and the highly expressive Tuco from "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly."